Chapter 12
Skyla
“ I am so proud of you,” Eva says, skimming a hand over my forearm.
“It needed to be done.” I shrug.
It has been a few days since I told Camo how things would be between us from now on, or the lack of things between us. I knew for my mental health that I needed to end things with him, because he was never going to let himself be open and start something serious with me.
I have not seen or heard from him, not that I expected to, if I am being honest with myself.
Seeing him openly flirt and touch that woman at my gym, knowing that I was there, then later in my office, acting like he has not hurt me, even denying that he is fucking the club girls, made my heart hurt more than it ever has.
“I thought he would be good for you after what the dickless fucker did to you,” Clark chimes in.
He is talking about my ex, who I found in bed with two women and a man, having a foursome. He claimed that I didn’t want to take part so he decided to have it with other people.
We were together for over two years, and I thought we would get married, start a life together. He had never brought up his sexual kinks, so it was a huge shock when I found the scene in my house.
Clark slapped him around a little, but Rocky busted up his new car, while my girl bestie Eva, decided to be the pettiest of all time. She cancelled his gym membership, and his golf club one, while signing him up to dating sites for some really kinky sex shit.
To this day I have no clue if he knew it was her, or that he was too scared to confront us because he was scared of Clark and Rocky.
“It was good for a time,” I admit. “I was stupid to grow feelings for a man who has a moat filled with alligators surrounding his heart.”
“It is human nature to want more out of a relationship, babe,” Rocky adds.
“But not for a supernatural.” I finish off my glass of wine, before filling it back up again.
He rolls his eyes, knowing that what I am saying is bullshit.
“They know love, Sky. Most find a fated mate. You know all about Netta and Tibolt.”
I smile thinking of the seer and her husband, who is a dragon shifter. They never expected to find each other, as Tibolt always expected to find a dragon mate, but he accepted Netta in a heartbeat.
“I know, but I find the men of the Kings are harder, darker. They all come from dark pasts; you can see and feel it when they are around you,” I explain to them, but I know that Camo has a soft side, he has shown it in tiny amounts over the past twelve months.
Hell, I have seen Winger help old ladies cross the street and help women with kids carry groceries into the house.
“If you ask me, you should take some time being just you. Then, get back out into the dating scene. Fuck Camo.” Eva hiccups, making me giggle.
“Been there done that, many times, remember?” I nudge her shoulder with mine. “But I know what you mean. Tate is still looking into things with Aston, he even suggested that I become a foster parent to have him stay with me.”
Three sets of wide eyes focus on me. Shock shows on their faces.
When I spoke to Tate a few days ago and he suggested that I look into becoming a foster parent, I was shocked but a wave of excitement ran through me. The idea of helping a kid, or kids, in the future made my heart skip a beat.
All of my friends and I had shit foster homes, so the idea of me making a good one for a troubled child or one in need felt right. It settled something in my heart.
He sent me a link to find out all the information, and my heart did sink a little when I saw that I had a better chance if I was in a relationship, but it is not unheard of for a woman with good income and a good support system to become a foster parent.
“Are you sure?” Eva asks in a low tone.
I take her hand in mine and smile at my good friend.
“I am sure this was meant to be a new path for me. Aston came into my life for a reason, babe, and I have to see what that is.”
My phone rings, and my head swivels to look at it on the arm of the sofa. Seeing the words ‘private number’ flash, my curiosity piques.
Picking it up, I hit the green button.
“Hello.”
There is heavy breathing on the other end but they say nothing else.
“Hello. Anyone there?” I try again.
“Beware, bitch. Stay away from him.” I gasp at the sudden threat, then I am just pissed.
“Oh, fuck off, you coward. Come say that to my face, bitch .” With that I hang up, then finish off my drink.
Who the fucking hell do they think they are to call and threaten me over a phone call? Fucking pussy.
“Skyla, what the fuck?” Clark calls.
“Who was that?” Rocky asks, his voice showing his concern.
I look at my friends, who are looking at me with both shock and concerned faces.
“No fucking clue. It was heavy breathing, and a male voice said, ‘beware, bitch.’ They hung up.” I shrug.
“What the fuck? Did you recognize the voice?” Clark asks.
I am already shaking my head. “No, it was distorted.”
“So it could have been a female?” Eva asks.
Her words make me think. Is Camo seeing someone else and she found out about me, or got jealous when she found out? Maybe he has met someone else and told her about me, but she needed to warn me off as an added measure.
My mind reels as to why someone would threaten me. I tend to not piss people off if I can help it, but I also will not be walked over.
“Do you think it could be linked to Camo? Or the club maybe?” Rocky edges.
I shrug again. “I have no idea. We have not spoken in a few days. It is not like we were exclusive, and if he is sleeping with other women and they know about me they might feel threatened, but clearly I am no longer a threat to any other woman he has sex with.”
Even as I say and think the words, my heart hurts. I know that things cannot work out between Camo and me, but that does not mean that I do not miss him. Feeling his hands on me, the way he kisses me.
“You need to tell him, Sky. It is bullshit if his whores are now threatening you,” Clark states.
“We do not know if it is linked to him, honey. For all we know it could be?—”
My words stop.
My heart stops.
My eyes widen as I look at my friends one at a time.
It all forms in my head.
The caller said to stay away from ‘him,’ and we thought that he had to mean Camo, but what if they meant Aston?
“What is it?” Eva takes my hand in hers.
I look at her with wide eyes.
“What if the warning was not to stay away from Camo, but to stay away from Aston?”
“Has he said anything when he comes into the gym?” Clark asks, looking between Rocky and me.
We both shake our heads.
“No, he comes in, tucks his bag under the reception desk. Goes into the staff room, helps himself to a snack, then starts cleaning until the class starts. He smiles more, I have noticed,” Rocky adds.
“I have seen that. It is like he belongs at the gym. He is making new friends; he said yesterday that one of the other kids asked him to go to the ballpark with him and his friends,” I say.
It has been very heartwarming seeing him smile and being more talkative. I have not seen any new bruises on him but that does not mean that they aren’t some on his body that I cannot see.
I know how good people, especially kids, can get at masking the bad things.
“I definitely think that you need to talk to Tate, and tell him about that call. Maybe he can have someone trace it to find out who the caller was,” Eva states, sounding more sober now.
We are a family, so if one of us hurt, we all hurt.
I remember when Clark was madly in love with this guy he met at a casino; they hit it off right away and he was perfect for our boy Clark.
Well, it was perfect until it was not. The slimy fucker was due to be married to a woman, and Clark was his last attempt to get his gay fantasies out of his system, and the cunt of a fiancée loved rubbing that in Clark’s face.
Safe to say that the bitch had a split lip in her wedding photos.
It took him weeks to jump back into the dating game, but we ate ice cream together, and watched cheesy romance movies together until most of our brain cells died from the cheesiness.
“I promise to call him tomorrow. But tonight is about drinking and being us.”
I hold up my almost empty glass.
“To friends who never leave,” Eva toasts.
“To family that is not blood, but just as worthy,” Rocky states.
“To cocks who like to please us, making us scream in more ways than one.” Clark winks at me, because I know that he means Camo.
He may make me scream his name in climax, but he also makes me scream in anger.
“Plus pussies, since I do not take cock.” Rocky winks at Clark.
“Hey, we have seen the pussies you like, brother, they are fucking cray-cray.” Clark laughs and we follow him because he is right.
Rocky has slept with some crazy women in the past.
All three of us have helped him chase women away, and we always love coming up with elaborate stories to run them off. Clark always goes over the top, which we laugh for days over.
The guys like to fuck, so they are always looking for a hook-up, whereas we like to enjoy the vibe around us, and have started to slow down the fucking of random guys.
Eva has feelings for Tate but is too scared to make a move, but I know that Tate reciprocates those feelings and is ready to make his own move, before someone swoops in and steals Eva from him.
There is a guy who comes into the gym who loves to flirt with her, which she enjoys, but she never accepts his date offers. Yet when Tate flirts with her she clams up, and runs away from him.
When I hooked-up for the first time with Camo, my body ached for days after he fucked me so hard that I almost blacked out after my sixth orgasm.
I knew what we both wanted going into our agreement, but he wormed his way under my skin, then into my soul and heart.
I sit back in my seat and watch my friends talk, bantering with each other, and all I can seem to think about is Camo. Wishing he was here, joining my family, but from his latest actions, I know deep down that I will never get to experience that with him.
Sighing, I reach for a slice of pizza, and taking a bite, my body suddenly feels heavy with regret and missed opportunity.
“What was that big sigh for?” Eva asks.
I look at my friend and take in her long dark curled hair, that flows down her back. Her large blue eyes and round face. She is beautiful even if I am biased.
We look at each other, not a word passing between us. It is like she can read what I am thinking by the look in my eyes.
“You know that we want you to be happy, babe, so if there is the possibility that Camo can make you happy, then I will support you every step of the way.”
I take her hand in mine, and twist the ring on her middle finger that I bought her. Well, I actually bought all four of us matching rings.
It is a simple ring that is designed with four hoops tied together with a knot, so both feminine and masculine for the guys. We also all have matching tattoos— two intersecting lines forming four sections, each containing our initials.
We also have them in the same place: the inside of our left forearm.
“I may want to punch the fucker in the face and fuck up all that sexiness that he walks around with but if he is what you want, I will stand by you, sweets,” Clark says as he rubs my knee.
“What they said, minus the sexiness because I am way fucking hotter than the biker.”
Laughter bubbles up and escapes my lips, and my friends follow.
They always know how to make me smile, and forget all the shit that goes on in my life, the same thing I do for them.
We are one for all, and all for one.
“I think a break will do us both some good. If he wants to see me, he knows where I am but I am tired chasing him and waiting around for his scraps. If it is meant to be then we will come together again, but for now, I am going to enjoy my friends, my business, and try to work out how to be a foster parent.”
Rocky sits on the coffee table in front of me, he takes my hand in his, with both Clark and Eva on either side of me. I feel like I won the lottery with my friends.
“We stick together, no matter what. That being said, if that fucker makes you cry again, he will need to fucking use his powers every day for the rest of his life to hide from me.”
“What Balboa said,” Clark jokes, in reference to Rocky’s name.
“Thank you, guys. Fuck, I love you all. Why didn’t we all have feelings for each other and enjoy daily orgies, just the four of us?” I ask.
It takes seconds for laughter to fill the room, we all have tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. We spend the rest of the night drinking and snacking on the food we ordered.
This is what I live for— my friends, who are my family.
V